Sunday, September 30, 2012

Today debuts a brand new Challenge...SPARKLE and SHINE!!! Are you ready to CREATE???

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. ABAC is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using a brand-new challenge of using "SPARKLE and SHINE". Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. I will have a project featured next Sunday for week two of the challenge.

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards.

Anything But a Card Challenge 2 is SPARKLE and SHINE!

SPARKLE and SHINE - include something(s) with sparkle, gleam, reflective, shiny, etc. Bling it up!!! For my project I'm sharing, I made a faux mirror by distressing/aging aluminum foil wrapped around a piece of cardstock.

The great thing about "ALTERED ART" is that anything goes - AND - absolutely everything can be used for creating. I collaged the background and I decided to use a quote from AP-2020 Frightful Images digital collage sheet. But it is a riddle about a mirror...so I needed a mirror, and an ornate frame. Guess where my frame came from??? The frame is cut right off the glossy printed cover of my Glitz Paper Pack!...nothing goes to waste on my craft table.

This complemented perfectly with the table scene with cat which is from the Altered Pages AP-778 Black and White ATC digital collage sheet. I fussy cut it out and carefully trimmed out the center which I covered with a piece of polished and aged aluminum foil. I aged foil with black acrylic paint and then buffed it away, then rubbed some gold ink for patina. I finished off the edges with some embroidered black lace and some "SHINY" gold German Scrap detailing.

I hope you like my latest entry in my art journal "Mirror...Mirror".

I hope you are inspired to play along and I can't see what you create! Have a fantastic day! :) Sb

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Welcome to Day Seven of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party - and sadly, today is the last day. Thanks for dropping by each day - it's been so much fun!

If you are joining in for the first time today... there's still a little time to go back and view and comment on the previous days. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every day on every post on each stop of the hop! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

Today completes a full week of HALLOWEEN inspiration, blogs, prizes, contests and - each day featured a different way to be entered to win a prize. So did you play along for your chances to win?

"Skully" is ready for the Party...

I have been flying on a sugar rush creating each day's project... and working all day, too. Yesterday I received a package of crafty goodies for an upcoming bloghop I'll be participating in November, and in it was a Jack-o-lantern ballon sticker! I couldn't resist but run with it... when inspiration presents itself - I run with it!

Yesterday, I had a featured how-to over at the Amazing Mold Putty Blog - and today I'm sharing my finished ghoulish lightswitch plate! CLICK HERE to see the complete HOW-TO. While cutting out the holes I dropped my lightswitch plate and one of the corners broke off... woo-hoo... a creative opportunity!!!

BEFORE...

The TRICK...cast a light switch plate using Amazing Mold Putty and cast in Creative Paperclay®. The TREAT: here's a special coupon for Amazing Crafting Products...enjoy!!!

I really love the distressed plaster texture that you get from the Creative Paperclay®. I'm getting an early start on making these since I have to make several of these blanks to be decorated by my nieces and their friends at their annual Halloween birthday bash. This is going to be so fun for them. Have a fabulously creative day! Sb : )

Friday, September 28, 2012

Welcome to Day Six of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party that goes everyday through TOMORROW. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post, every day on each stop of the hop, too...so you still have one day to get caught up! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

We've got a full week of HALLOWEEN inspiration, blogs, prizes, contests and - each day will feature a different way to be entered to win a prize. So plan to drop by every day for your chance to win.

This Elf has Escaped from the Workshop for a Nap!

You may not know this {unless you are one of my loyal followers} - but I have been creating at least one Christmas card every week since last Christmas. This is a challenge from my Unscripted Sketches team. Today is also Festive Friday, and I couldn't resist bringing a little Christmas into the Halloween fun! I've been so inspired by our Design Team Leader, DeeDee's monochromatic tags, so I wanted to give this a try. I stamped my scene and my elf on kraft cardstock in black dye ink. The sleeping elf is fussy cut and tinted with Ranger Distress markers applied with a waterbrush. I also used my water brush to dilute the picket fence distress marker to give a whitewash cast to the moon.

**TODAY'S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Collect the letters from all the blogs in the hop and email me the "SECRET WORD" to deedee430@gmail.com.CLICK HERE to visit VLVS! Halloween stamps and HERE to go to VLVS! on Facebook.

Welcome to the eighteenth installment of Terri Sproul's 2012 Festive Friday Bloghop. September is now over and everyone is eyeballs deep in Halloween crafts. How about you? You should have arrived here from Terri's Page. To get back to the beginning of the bloghop CLICK HERE.

This week's creation is a huge card! I used an assortment of holiday paper pieces... background and "Ho-Ho" border are from DCVW holiday stacks, Santa is cut out from a piece of Rusty Pickle 12x12 paper that has many Santas, and the circle is a leftover piece of Memories Complete holiday paper. Santa is double matted with gold and green cardstock scraps. I used Miracle Tape to hold this altogether. Since this is so large, I came across a kit I have for a hanging magnetic clipboard project I've never made...and guess what??? I pulled it out...and the backing just happens to be the same EXACT size...so this lil' guy is going to be immortalized with modge-podge. My one touch rule is awesome!

Have a fantastic Friday...and a wonderful day! Just a reminder... the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team Halloween Spooktacular Party is on day 6...and it's just getting better and better. ALSO tomorrow I will be participating in...

This Bloghop begins at the Creative Paperclay® blog and will feature even MORE HALLOWEEN inspiration and prizes. The next few days are super busy...but wait until you see the all the work I will be sharing. Sb :)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Welcome to Day Five of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party that goes everyday through September 29th. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post on each stop of the hop, too! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

We've got a full week of HALLOWEEN inspiration, blogs, prizes, contests and - each day will feature a different way to be entered to win a prize. Just two more days to drop by for your chance to win.

My Paper Lantern will keep the Party Glowing.

I'm no "Martha" - but boy does she come up with great ideas for Halloween. This paper lantern is one of them. It was a downloadable PDF file from her website and I just printed the pattern out, cut out and traced on 4 sheets of black shimmery paper. Then I cut out 4 sections of orange vellum {you can use white} and stamped my scene consisting of 4 stamps: tree background, cemetery, full moon with and the flock of bats. Using my handy-dandy MIRACLE TAPE - I taped the panels in and each lantern side together and I have a pretty paper lantern - AND - it will lay flat for storage next year!

I added a battery powered LED tea light and this lantern is complete!

**TODAY'S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Visit the forum and say hello on our Halloween Post HERE {you will need to create a screen name/password} ! CLICK HERE to visit VLVS! Halloween stamps and HERE to go to VLVS! on Facebook.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Welcome to Day Four of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party that goes everyday through September 29th. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post on each stop of the hop, too! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

Are you enjoying the party??? Are you playing along. We are halfway through and the party's still jumping...

I've got my "Eye on the PRIZE".

I made these super cute bloodshot eyeballs by stamping with ONE stamp. The branches from Plate #1433 in two colors of Distress ink. I punched out circles and layered with googlie eyes and fashioned a super easy lollipop wrapper with a folded piece of 3" black cardstock and some fun eyeball paper punched with a border punch. Miracle Tape to the rescue to assemble this fun party favor... lickety split!

**TODAY'S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Share a picture of your Viva Las Vegastamps! Stash on our facebook wall.CLICK HERE to go to VLVS! on Facebook.

This is just my plate of stamps for Halloween...I have a pile of Steampunk...pile o' Christmas...and a 5" thick binder full of VLVS stamps, too. CLICK HERE to see my video on my stamp storage.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Welcome to Day Three of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party that goes everyday through September 29th. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post, every day on each stop of the hop, too! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

With these cute Witchy Danglies...I'm ready to P-A-R-T-Y!!!

I wouldn't call myself a jewelry person...but I do like to dabble and play with beads and baubles. The VLVS! Witch Costume #18901 is the perfect character to create some shrinky dink festive earrings for All Hallows Eve...they just scream "TRICK or TREAT"!!!

Aside of the fussy cutting, the process is pretty easy. I prepared my shrink plastic according to manufacturers instructions by lightly sanding the surface. I stamped the Witch using Black StazOn ink twice and fussy cut out. Then I colored with my Bic Mark-It permanent markers in a stipple fashion to limit bleeding/blurring of ink. Using a 1/16" hole punch, I punched holes to receive wire for beading and hanging. Time for the magic - I placed my cuties on chipboard in the toaster oven on the lowest toast setting and watched closely to remove as soon as the shrinking is complete. It takes just about a minute. **A TIP** I prefer the toaster oven opposed to my heat gun because the heat gun is very hot and violently accelerates the shrinking and warps the plastic so it never really is completely flat. In the toaster oven the plastic returns completely flat after shrinking process completes. It's so fun to watch... PRESTO...CHANGE-O! I finished off by wire wrapping the tops to accept earring dangles and stringing some sparkly orange and clear seed beads at the bottom of each. Now I'm ready to PARTY!!!

**TODAY'S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Visit the website (stampo.com) and return to the VLVS! Blog to share something you've learned! Also you have until Friday the 28th at midnight to create a brand new VLVS! inspired Halloween project and link up {day 2 challenge}.CLICK HERE to visit VLVS Halloween stamps and HERE to go to VLVS on Facebook.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Welcome to Day Two of the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's Halloween party that goes everyday through September 29th. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post on each stop of the hop, too! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

We've got a full week of HALLOWEEN inspiration, blogs, prizes, contests and - each day will feature a different way to be entered to win a prize. So plan to drop by every day for your chance to win.

This spooky card heeds warning of "Halloween Future".

I took a scrap of bright yellow cardstock stamped the "Poison" stamp repeatedly in rows, filling the entire sheet. I crumped it up, flattened out and inked with Old Paper and Weathered Wood Distress Inks. Then I cut the paper in to strips to mimic police line tape and adhered to a black cardstock base with miracle tape. This looked fantastic the way it was...but I wanted to add more. I stamped the bottle, tombstone with pumpkin and sugar of lead label on varying colors of tan paper and added color with my Ranger Distress Markers applied with a water brush. I grounded the bottle with a strip of scrap of paper I had painted with punchinella. I finished off the bottle with Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer to give the bottle a glass feel. This card is eerie with a vintage flair.

**TODAY'S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Create a brand new VLVS! inspired Halloween project and link up! Deadline: Friday the 28th at midnight.CLICK HERE to visit VLVS! Halloween stamps and HERE to go to VLVS! on Facebook.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

To review today's "TEXTURE" challenge post for "ANYTHING BUT A CARD" please scroll down. I promise, please bear with me...it's all here :)

Welcome to Day One of the FUN!!! Starting today the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team is putting on a party that goes everyday through September 29th. There is a prize for those who leave comments on every post on each stop of the hop, too! I will giveaway a fabulous blog candy prize at the end of the hop drawn from all new followers of my blog.

We've got a full week of HALLOWEEN inspiration, blogs, prizes, contests and - each day will feature a different way to be entered to win a prize. So plan to drop by every day for your chance to win.It's week number two of the "TEXTURE" challenge at "ANYTHING BUT A CARD"!!! ABAC is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using the current challenge "Texture" Challenge number TWO. Head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. Best part...there's still another week to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy.

Last month I hosted a bloghop featuring altered wooden spoons...and this witchy woman riding a spoon is one of the spoons I created. But she needs a home! Using plates #1433 and #1429 from Viva Las Vegastamps! I created a scene for her inside of a recycled plexiglass frame.

This lady is full of texture for the current Challenge at ABAC. She has fibers, glittery textured embossing powder...and bling!

My spoon is base painted with Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer and Garnet Mixers. I affixed orange gems and clear dew drops in the bowl area with Crystal Lacquer {this adds bling and texture}. Around the spoon edge, I adhered orange tinsel trim with double sided tape and wrapped black raffia around the neck of spoon {more texture}.

The handle is fiber wrapped with 3 kinds of shimmery, fuzzy goodness. The witchy woman is from an AlteredPages.com collage sheet AP-458D Wicked Witches. I printed her twice and cut out two images to layer above spoon to give illusion of depth. I added some dimension and pizazz to my gal on the gloves, dress and shoes by applying black embossing powder that has glitter in it.

NOW HERE'S THE AFTER...in her new home!

I took a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" coated cardstock and brayered in an orange sky. I stamped the branches in brown ink first to build depth in the branches, then stamped over again in black ink. I stamped moon with clouds onto the background and also on a yellow cardstock. I fussy cut out the moon and adhered to background. I finished the scene by stamping the bats and "Happy Haunting". I'm going to love this holiday decor for years to come. **TODAY"S GAME - PLAY to WIN** Share your favorite Viva Las Vegastamps! Halloween stamp on the VLVS! Facebook wall.CLICK HERE to visit VLVS Halloween stamps and HERE to go to VLVS! on Facebook. My stamp is "Skeleton Flashing #1041!

WELCOME to the blog for sbartist (Susan M. Brown) - mixed media artist and graphic designer.I frequently lurk around in the dark creating art while all in the world are asleep. What will I dream up next...